EOS R7 Blurry images up close

[jesthepirate]

I've started to teach myself manual mode. I've been practicing on dogs at the dog park. I prioritize high shutter speed (1500+), low aperture (3.5-6), and I try to keep my ISO low. My photos look great on the camera but once I download them and zoom in, they're blurry. 

I've formed a full list of settings I've learned through different YouTubes but I still haven't seemed to figure out why they're blurry up close. This is even with dogs 3 ft away and hardly moving. 

It's either my skill in getting the right combination between the 3 or there's a setting I haven't discovered I need to change. Any ideas?

My lens is 18-150

[stevet1]

jeswyoming,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the last set of pictures you posted.

Use single point focusing, focus on their eyes, and use a medium depth of field like f/5.6 to f/8 and you can't go wrong.

I don't think you need a shutter speed as high as 1500. When you go that high, the camera is going to need to raise the ISO to compensate.

Find some shutter speed charts to guide you in what shutter speeds to use in different situations.

If the dogs are moving, put your camera in Servo mode.

If you use back button focus, it will make your life a whole lot easier. You can press down with your thumb and focus continuously while you shoot.

Steve Thomas

[jesthepirate · Accepted solution]

Thank you thank you! This helps me so much.

I have started using back button focus and do see a huge difference. 

Thank you, Steve

[stevet1]

jeswyoming,

You're welcome.

I hope you have nothing but joy and happiness in your photography.

Steve Thomas

[BurnUnit]

It's interesting that when looking at all the pics you posted you can see at least some general improvements progressing from the first to last photo. Be sure to post a couple more samples when you start to feel like you're getting comfortable with your results. I especially liked the shot of the flying black dog, even if everything didn't seem as sharp as you'd hoped.

It looked like most or all of these shots were taken zoomed out as wide as possible with your 18-150 lens. I know nothing about this particular lens but you may find that some zooms aren't always their sharpest at the absolutely shortest or longest focal length. Zooming in just a bit from the fully wide setting may make some improvement.

And you learned a little about "pixel peeping". Now are you familiar with the term "chimping"?

[jesthepirate]

Hey thank you for the feedback! I am not familiar with chimping...

[BurnUnit]

This, from Wikipedia:

"Chimping is a colloquial term used in digital photography to describe the habit of checking every photo on the camera display (LCD) immediately after capture.

Some photographers use the term in a derogatory sense to describe the actions of amateur photographers, but the act of reviewing images on-camera is not necessarily frowned upon by professional or experienced photographers."

Sadly, if you search the term online, you'll likely find that it's also been adopted to mean something much less appropriate. I'll stick with Wikipedia's definition. 🤔

[jesthepirate]

Makes sense! I'd say I probably do that a little too much... I'm trying to knock my perfectionism back a couple of pegs. Everything seems to take me way too long. Plus it's odd but they don't ever show up the exact same on my computer.  I also have to keep turning the brightness on my computer screen all the way up as it dims on its own even though I have that feature shut off. When my sister sees the images on her screen after I edit them, they're way too bright.

[Tintype_18]

Those are cute photos. I found your request to be informative from the answers. BTW, when in the dog park...watch where you step. 😉

[jesthepirate]

A couple more questions for you guys...

1, Do I use subject tracking With one point focus or should I keep it off?

2, How do you know when your work is quality enough to offer photography publicly? Especially as far as knowing it will turn out clear if a customer were to order a large sized print.